As Time Goes By
by ShaperOfThings
Summary: Set after Chosen, my story takes place over the course of many years. Warning: Many character deaths. Oneshot.


_**Hi, all. "As Time Goes By" was loosely inspired by the final episode of Six Feet Under, but it is in no way entirely based on the said episode.**_

_** I'd like to thank Little Mary Sunshine and Burkle for beta-ing this story.**_

_** I do not own the BTVS characters, etc.  
**  
_

_May 20, 2003._

As Dawn watched Buffy mutely stare at the crater of Sunnydale, she realized with a start that Buffy could do anything she wanted to do. The possibilities were endless. Dawn slowly smiled, immensely happy that she had a part in giving Buffy and other Slayers their futures back.

The first thing they did after leaving the crater in the school bus was stop at a hotel to clean up and rest. Later that night, Buffy had gone out without a warning or note.

"I wanted ice cream, so I went out and got some," she told Dawn after she returned with a carton of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Dawn simply shook her head and rolled her eyes with a chuckle.

After returning the other Slayers to their families, Buffy decided she wanted to see the world. Therefore, she traveled the world with Dawn at her side. They saw many things, new and old. They ate and danced. They bought a lot of clothes and shoes. The world was their oyster and they were just discovering the pearl within it.

With Buffy's expressed wish that upon graduation every girl be given the choice to be a Slayer or normal girl, Giles founded the first academy for Slayers and became the first headmaster. With funding by the newly reestablished Watchers' Council, the young girls received exemplary education in everything and training in weaponry and marital arts. As per Buffy's wish, each graduating girl made the choice to either defend the world against the forces of darkness or live their lives out as normally as possible.

Dawn chose the career as a Watcher. She knew she had a gift for it, and she wished to explore it fully. After all, who would be able to understand the pressures of being a Slayer better than she?

Having just discovered the opposite side of dark magicks, Willow continued to develop her Wicca abilities. She no longer feared becoming evil. Formerly the world's enemy, she was now the most powerful living weapon for the forces of good.

After the construction business proved too mundane and unfulfilling for Xander, he decided to work for the Watchers' Council's US branch as the head of the security department. With his experience with weapons and military defense tactics, the US branch became one of the most well protected institutions in the world.

Faith thought it would be a good idea if she became a marital arts teacher at the Slayers' school. Everyone unanimously agreed.

_2006._

After three years of world travel, Buffy felt like she had seen enough. She wanted to settle and do something with her life. After a conversation with Dawn (during which much fun was made at her expense for her butchering of the English language), Buffy decided she wanted to be an English teacher. Her friends gave their support, but not before breaking down into hysterics.

Giles was drinking tea as usual when he had received a phone call from Buffy in America. After wiping up the mess from his spit take upon hearing about her decision, Giles begged her to rethink her choice. She pointedly rebuffed each one of his attempts. "Giles, I really want to do this, you know? It'd be fun and um, one of those experience where everybody says they learn from it and grow and become fully-baked cookies," she'd said. Resignedly, Giles thought to himself that maybe it would not be that bad.

_2011._

Giles' fears proved unfounded, as nobody was prouder than he was on the day Buffy graduated from her university with high honours.

Giles offered Buffy a teaching job at the academy, and she accepted. She taught well and always politely declined to go into detail whenever a young Slayer came up to her asking about her legendary past. She felt it was egotistical to talk about herself as though she were the greatest living Slayer ever.

It was after a chance encounter with one of the Slayers' fathers, who happened to be single and handsome, when Buffy rediscovered love. He had known of her great strength, and he accepted her for who she was. He didn't want to change her, and, after many months of romance, he proposed to her.

_2012._

Dawn was helping Buffy with her wedding dress in the room when they saw their father for the first time in many years. She felt conflicted (mostly angered), but that quickly changed into confusion as Hank attempted to explain and apologize for all of his mistakes only to be hushed by Buffy. "Shh, not today, Dad. We'll talk later, but for now, I'm so happy you came," she said after embracing him. Dawn stared wordlessly at her sister as the two broke apart. Buffy looked back at her with a gentle smile and shrugged slightly. "I died twice and got three chances to live my life. That sort of thing tends to change one's outlook," Buffy whispered into her sister's ear as she walked her out of the room, "And besides, he's the only father we have." Her capacity to endlessly love and forgive never ceased to amaze Dawn.

Standing in front of the lavishly decorated room, Dawn watched with joy as her sister walked down the lane with Giles on one arm and their father on one arm. Buffy was always one to defy conventions. It was later in the day when they discovered Giles had tracked down and invited their father to the wedding. "No father should miss his daughter's special day," he said simply with a smile. Buffy thought it was the greatest wedding present she could have received.

_2013._

Joyce Elizabeth Summers-Jameson was born a year later on a warm March day. Buffy chose the name for her daughter because everybody kept commenting on how much she looked like her grandmother. Everybody agreed it was the best name for the tiny baby. As everybody bent over and cooed over a very tired, but glad, Buffy and her newborn, Dawn glanced over at the window on her right. For a brief moment, she thought she saw her mother smiling at them. She blinked and Joyce was gone. She smiled slightly and returned her attention to the newly arrived girl.

It was Dawn's turn at the altar several months later. She met a handsome doctor at the hospital where Joyce was born, and after a whirlwind romance, they decided to marry on a cool September day. Everybody showed up to see Buffy's little sister decked out in a beautiful Vera Wang dress on her special day. "Look at Dawnie all grown up now," Willow murmured softly to Xander who was sitting to her left. He only nodded, overwhelmed.

A few weeks later, Dawn, Buffy, Willow, and Xander were together in Buffy's kitchen when Robin phoned them. A vampire had overwhelmed and killed her. She left behind a young son and a boyfriend. She was only thirty years old.

_Faith Kimberly Lehane, December 14, 1982-October 6, 2013._

_2015._

It was a beautiful and warm day behind Giles' home in England, and a hand fasting ceremony was being held. Everybody, including Willow and her companion's families, had gathered to watch them take the first step into a life as a married couple. As Willow and her companion exchanged vows, she glanced over at Kennedy in the seats. Kennedy smiled and nodded her approval. They were not meant to be lovers, but it did not mean they could not be friends. Willow smiled back, then turned her attention back to her companion and squeezed her hand.

_2021._

"Buffy?" Dawn called out in a faint whisper as she knocked on the classroom's open door. Buffy trailed off as she heard the knock and turned her head to see her sister. "Dawn!" she exclaimed with a smile that quickly dissolved as she noticed the grave expression on her sister's face. They walked into the hallway outside the classroom. It was a moment of deja vu for both of them. Slightly overwhelmed, Dawn began to tell Buffy about how Giles had been found slumped over in his leather chair with an open book on his lap, his arms limply hanging over the armrests, and a cup of tea dangling from his fingers. It was a heart attack, so severe and sudden that he went quickly. The sisters embraced each other and started to weep.

_Rupert Samuel Giles, February 20, 1954-January 25, 2021, aged 66._

_2035._

Dawn—who had aged gracefully—and her husband sat next to now widowed Buffy—who also aged well. Her face lined with laugh and smile lines, her hair pulled up in an elegant French twist, Buffy couldn't be happier. Her family and friends were here with her for her daughter's wedding. Joyce turned out to be a perfectly normal and beautiful woman.

_2042._

"Anya?" an ailing Xander croaked out on the hospital bed. "No, it's me, your wife, Yolanda," the woman beside him whispered back, stroking his thinning grey hair. Xander sighed and closed his eye not hidden by the eye patch. "I love you...," he murmured. There was a loud beeping sound and Yolanda glanced at the heart monitor to see a flatline. "I love you...and so does she," she replied simply, her voice heavy.

_Alexander "Xander" LaVelle Harris, April 12, 1981-August 18, 2042, aged 61._

_2058_

A white-haired Willow opened her eyes to see three mysterious figures bathed in soft light. "You three...the Powers That Be," she murmured, in awe. _Old witch, your time is nigh. As you approach the twilight of your life, there is the risk of balance between good and evil falling out of our favour. Thus, we wish to free you from your mortal confines and have you be reborn as a goddess. _Willow closed her eyes and mumbled, "That means I won't be able to see..." _ Gods and goddesses can see whomever as they please, be she a mortal or spirit. _A small sigh escaping her mouth, Willow nodded. "Tara..." she whispered, her hand twitched just before she breathed for the final time. The mysterious figures looked at each other and then back at her. Soon, her body was bathed in ethereal light and Willow was reborn as a goddess. She got out of the bed and walked over to the figures. They stood together and in a blink of the eye, they vanished.

_Willow Danielle Rosenberg, July 12, 1981-November, 23, 2058, aged 77._

_2063._

A man stood by the bed and tended to the small and frail old woman. Slowly, but surely, the old woman's eyes opened. She did not say anything at first; they sat together in silence. Eventually, the man broke the silence. "How do you feel?" he gently inquired, stroking her hand. The woman's head slowly moved so she could get a better look at him. "What is going to...happen to me...after I die?" she wondered quietly. "I don't know," he replied back with a sad smile. The woman squeezed his hand. "I guess...we'll find out soon enough...," she comfortingly said back. She closed her eyes. The man felt the woman's grip on his hand weaken. He bowed his head in a silent moment. He looked back up to see the woman's body glow with otherworldly light. "Dawn?"

_Dawn Alexis Summers-Mariotte, October 9, 1987-June 1, 2063, aged 75._

_2081._

A greying Joyce opened the front door after hearing a knock. Recognizing the handsome man's face, she moved aside to let him in. The man looked at her, and she nodded towards the direction. He smiled, his way of thanking her. She smiled back, her eyes sad and tired. The man made his way to the room and opened the door as quietly as possible. He saw the old woman sitting in the rocker, rocking slightly. He knew it would be soon; he felt it in his bones. He walked over and squatted down, resting his hands on the woman's heavily lined hands. "Buffy?" Recognizing the sound of her name, her head lifted and she stared straight ahead at the man's face. "You...came...," she whispered happily, reaching out to caress his cheek. The man smiled, taking comfort in her touch. He turned his face so to kiss the inside of her palm before placing it in his hands.

"Of course I came. I had to."

"Mmm. Would you...mind terribly...if you helped me to the...bed?"

He stood and lifted Buffy out of the rocker; he was caught off guard by how light and fragile she was. Gently cradling her in his arms, he slowly walked to the bed. Upon reaching the bed, he carefully laid Buffy in it and then pulled the covers over her. He sat on the edge of the bed, by Buffy's hips.

"Such a...long time. Who would have...thought I'd...live this long?" she noted with a soft chuckle.

"Nobody did. You beat the odds, Buffy," he replied, rubbing her hand with his.

"So I did... I've always...loved...you..."

"I've never stopped loving you..."

Buffy smiled at this and then slowly closed her eyes. "I'm so...tired..."

_A few days later..._

Buffy's funeral was as grand as they came. In addition to relatives and friends of the family, hundreds of Slayers from all over the world also came. One by one, the Slayers knelt in front of the coffin covered in roses to bid the legendary Slayer, who had been the first one to live a full life that lasted for a hundred years, farewell.

A few weeks later, Joyce was at the Slayers' Academy for a dedication ceremony. The Watchers' Council had many rose bushes planted to form the walls encircling a moderately spacious intimate area. In the centre there was a statue of a warrior goddess, and at its bottom there was a plaque. Inscribed on it was:

_Buffy Anne Summers-Jameson, January 19, 1981-May 13, 2081_

_Beloved mother, sister, aunt, grandmother, and great-grandmother._

_Devoted friend._

_She changed the world. A lot._


End file.
